The Visit of All Visits

On the Friday before Thanksgiving, we went to the airport and saw the following people standing on the curb:

my mom ("Mom" or "Nonnie")
my sister ("Anne")
my brother-in-law ("Mike")
my nephews ("Jack & Joey")
my diva princess niece ("Jenna")

So we decided to pick them up and bring them back to our house. It was the least we could do.

This vacation was huge for the kids. A) it was the first time they were on a plane. B) it was their first time to California. C) it was the first time visiting us in the 10 years we've lived outside of Michigan. We were determined to make it the best vacation EVER. And I don't want to toot our own horn, but beep, beep, if you know what I mean.

We officially started the vacation on Saturday morning by bringing the kids to McDonalds for breakfast. It's the kid mecca of breakfast places. Notice Charlie's slightly hesitant look on his face. He's not used to being around kids, since we keep him locked up in our dungeon.



(Actually, Charlie loved hanging with his cousins. No meltdowns at all.)

So then we went to SeaWorld. Joey is quite the expert on sharks. So I knew he would love the walk-through, see-through tunnel that was surrounded by sharks. He did:








The next day we went to the beach. Why? Because it was November 20th and 76 degrees out. Why? Because we could.









That evening we bathed Charlie and Jenna, and Jenna proclaimed, "Charlie's a boy. He has a penis!"




Here's a pic from Scripps Aquairum. Don't worry - it's not a real shark.



The men visited the USS Midway while the ladies and toddlers visited the mall.



Afterwards, they toured Petco Stadium, where the Padres play.



We then went and got pictures taken. They turned out awesome.








And then, the highlight of the trip: LegoLand!

Charlie hung out in the Duplo section:







The big kids played on the giant fire trucks:








Joey made a new friend:



And another friend of the four-legged variety:




Jenna and her mom danced to the pirate music while her brothers rode the water ride:






Then the water ride got stuck:




Nonnie waited patiently, even after hearing the pirate song 8736 times:




After the water ride, Jack and Joey squirted other kids on the pirate ride:





They then took on Darth Vader:



We spent Thanksgiving recovering from all the excitement. And then they left on Friday.

The next morning, when I went in to get Charlie from his crib, he looked around my shoulder, looking for all the cool people who were here just the day before. We went downstairs and he ran into every room, searching for those fun people to play with. It made me think it may be time to get him a sibling.

Or put him into preschool.

I hope everyone had as much fun as we did showing them all San Diego has to offer! Thanks, Mom, Anne, and Mike - for dragging your family 3ooo miles to see us! Don't worry - next time, we'll come to you!